[Larry]

It has been a problem and the solution is to get inside. If he can open the driver’s side door maybe he can fashion a hook to open the door from the inside handle. You may have to enter through the windshield.

[Archived]

I had the same problem. I opened up the driver side door to the electrical fuses. I had a 3/4 x 3/4 inch x 9 foot long steel tub that I fastened a hook on the end and reached the latch on the entry door and opened. I ordered a new latch from prevost and installed.

Larry Nelson

2002 XLII. Vision

[Archived]

Sounds like stuff we did in high school and college … but on a much grander scale!

[Sammy]

Dick, I do not understand what you are implying about high school and collage.

Larry Nelson

02 XLII Vision

12 Honda CRV

[Archived]

Didn’t you ever lock your keys in a 1960’s/1970’s American car and spend an hour devising various “tools” often fashioned from heavy coat hangers to get the car unlocked?

Then just as you get the car unlocked the cops show up. Up against the car, show ID and registration, etc. Then they start “looking” in the car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While at UW-Madison I locked my keys in the trunk of 1965 Olds Dynamic 88. Car open, no remote trunk unlock. I had a hockey stick in the back seat. After taking the back seat out and unloading the almost full trunk from the passenger compartment I still couldn’t see, reach or feel the keys but I knew exactly were they were.

I fashioned a metal hook to the end of the hockey stick, felt the keys on the second or third pass and thankfully was able to pick them up and bring them out!

[Archived]

Yep, me too dick, got pretty good with the coat hanger trick.

[Archived]

Had the same thing happen in an RV park in Roswell N.M. Not sure if your door mechanism is the same as my 94 XLV but if it broke in the same manner as mine just getting in the coach will not get the door open as the inside handle will not work either. The exterior handle is a cast piece with a small shaft cast into the back of the handle body that all of the latch mechanisms pivot on. On mine the shaft broke off of the back of the exterior handle completely disabling the outside and inside door handles. Not sure about your model coach but the only way in mine was remove a windshield or the drivers window. The drivers window assy is installed with screws and with my trusty Dewalt screw gun I had it out in about five minutes only to discover the inside door handle wouldn’t work either. In order to access the door latch assy requires removing the inner door panel which is not difficult “if” the door is open ! With the door closed you can only access half the screws , the others are cover by the dash and door frame. I removed all of the door panel screws I could get to which allowed me to just get my arm inside the door enough to get it unlatched. Had to study the picture in the parts manual to determine how it worked in order to get it unlatched. After getting the door open I removed the door panel and fabricated and attached a piece of all thread bolt from a local hardware store that would reach the latch from the passenger window . We left the door panel off and passenger window unlatched the remainder of the trip.

In my parts manual the part is identified as handle, exterior PN 28-1714 ,item 73 on para/page 1862-45.

The handle assy is easy to replace once you get the door open and door panel off.

As a footnote,we had just traveled over 60 miles of the roughest highways in the state of Texas the day before. Not sure if that was the cause but it probably didn’t help it.

I did learn that Prevost are very secure if the door is locked !

Michael

[Archived]

So is this something we all should put on a list to replace every 5 or 10 or 15 years? Will they all eventually wear out and need replacement?

Sounds like the cost of replacement isn’t material, but if the door is closed getting at it is a real challenge.

[Archived]

Dick,

On an XL the windshield comes out and goes in so easy I would not even worry about access if the mechanism breaks.

An XLII driver’s door can be opened with the bay key so as long as you have a key to open that door you can devise a way to pull the inside door handle. Maybe folks familiar with an H3 can chime in and offer advice on how to access the inside door handle.

[Jerry]

I took the broken handle to a metalurgist friend of mine who examined it with a scanning electron microscope to determine a failure mode. He reported the shaft snapped all at once and showed no signifcant wear or inclusions that would contribute to a fatigue fracture. From what I could tell the handle was the orignal 1994. I stongly suspect the rough road played a major part in the failure. Also, I did not have the door airlock engaged during that time. (forgot it) Not sure if not having the airlock engaged woud place additional strain on the handle assy or not but may have been a contributing factor.

Michael

[gary]

Jon,

I do not know about XLII’s but if that shaft brakes off in an XLV, no key in the world will unlatch that door as the deadbolt key mechanism is also attached to that same pivot point on the back of the handle. Tried that, no joy.

Michael

[Ronald]

“On an XL the windshield comes out and goes in so easy I would not even worry about access if the mechanism breaks.”

That is easy for you guys to say! I reserve final opinion until I’ve had the windshield out and in once or twice!

[Darrell]

It is a story about door locks with a funny punchline.

Several years ago, my wife and I went to Italy to attend an open air performance of Andrea Bocelli taking place in his hometown of Lajatico in the Tuscany. This takes place once a year in the Teatro Del Silencio, which is set-up in the fields and the middle of nowhere. This concert is attended by close to 10,000 people arriving from all over the world. It is a huge event.

Anyway, back to door locks and how to open them. We had a rental car since we spent a couple of weeks over there, enjoying everything the Tuscany has to offer (especially, lots of wine).

We stopped in a small town to pick-up some items in the grocery store. My wife was ahead of me and while entering the store behind her, I remembered that I had forgotten an item in the car which I needed. I went back to the car and opened the trunk to get at the suitcase. Got the item and closed the trunk. You guessed right. The car keys were in the trunk.

This was in a very small town about a 4 hours drive from Milan. The local language is Italian, of course, and if you do not speak it, it is tough to communicate with locals.

We searched and found the local police department. It happened to be a short walk away from the grocery store.

It was closed and a note was taped to the door. With dictionary in hand, we figured out that the note asked to call a certain phone number for help. As we were dialing the number, it just so happened that the local policeman showed up.

Fortunately, he spoke enough English to undertand our problem. He walked back to the car with us to take a close-up look. He did not see a way to open the car. We went back to his office and he called the car rental company in Milan. Their suggestion was to break a window and have it repaired prior to dropping off the car.

After hanging-up the phone, all of a sudden his face lit-up and the policeman said to us …

Wait a second… I have an old CUSTOMER who can help you! Let me call him.

Well, his “old customer” was Giancarlo, who agreed to come to the car after work. He had the car lock open in less than 5 minutes and nothing was damaged or broken in the process.

A story with a happy ending.

Cheers,

Ronald

[Archived]

One of the best stories I’ve heard!

[Corey]

Is the handle on a H-3 prone to breaking like those on the XL,s ? Gary